Rice & Chilli

Bangkok is a city for everyone and regardless of what your taste and preferences are, we will be sure to find something for you. I've discussed about countless items and options for eating and drinking in Thailand, but most of them tend to be quite low key. In other words, I have shared with you guys what I, and the rest of the local population, like to have. For this post though, I feel that I should now step on from the local experience and into the shoes of you, the tourists, the visitors!

Alright, this will be another one of my food related post, but this time, you won't be eating your delicious food or sipping your drinks along with the dust and pollution of our capital city. For this experience, you will need to dress a little bit nicer than usual, which refers to no shorts, no flip flops and haivanas, and no tank tops. I will be sharing with you guys a restaurant in the Sathorn area, in the Mode Hotel, called Rice & Chilli. 

Before I start, one of the main reasons as to why I would like you guys to try this place is because it serves Thai food. The factor that makes it stand out from other places that would serve the same menu is the way they create and present their dishes. This is one of those places that you could really be pleased with in terms of the looks and presentation of the food. This only means one thing: light, camera, action! Rice & Chilli is just the right place for you to take more elegant looking photos of Thai food, which are usually not very instagramable on the streets. 

Other than the really good looking dishes, this place also has a really nice ambience. When you walk in, you know for sure that this place is gonna be fancy, but you will soon realise that the staffs are very professional and will put you at ease. This means there's none of that awkward sort of feelings you might get when dining in a nice restaurant. The place also has a really decent view of the main Sathorn road, which I think is a real plus. Rice & Chilli isn't 50 stories up in the skyline like some other restaurants in the city, but a view floors up with do really. 

Now that we can be sure of the presentation of the food and the ambience of the restaurant, let's move on to one of the most important element for your meal, the taste! My family and I had the luxury of ordering starters, mains and of course, dessert. Since our whole family is into food and well-being, we had gone for a light starter of mini salads. As I don't have pictures to show you of this starter, I will try my best to describe it to you. So these mini salads - yes as in plural - come in little shot glasses, just like the ones you would shoot down your tequila or vodka on a Friday night. We got little forks, similar to those you would use with oysters, to elegantly eat our salads from the shot glasses. I found this really cool for a few reasons. Firstly, it was really nice for the camera. Secondly, it was considerate in the sense that the kitchen team has already divided to the portion for us. And thirdly, I personally like their take on a more western canape/finger food styled concept and adapting that to Thai cuisine. Oh yes, the taste was also very good!

Why don't we talk about some of the things that I did manage to get pictures of? Yes, let's do that and start with one of the lighter dishes of our main course. Just one thing that I need to mention in regards to Thai food is that we usually don't have such orders as entrée, main and dessert like western meals. Instead of creating an organised meals whereby items have their own orders, we all prefer the no-fuss approach and just have everything on the table. As to what you should or want to consume first, is your personal choice, so be at ease! The lighter of the 'mains' is a wooden board of fresh Thai vegetables with dipping sauces and deep-fried fish flakes. I realise that this looks like a very simple dish just like a charcuterie and cheese board you would get in Paris, but trust me, it takes a lot more preparation and effort that the latter. The most simple aspect of the dish is the vegetables. I refer to these vegetables as Thai because it is very common for Thai households to be consuming these very vegetables with their meals. The usual suspects are white cabbage, unripe mango, Thai eggplants (which are completely different from aubergine as they come in the shape of mini ping-pong balls), baby corn and cucumber (usually we would peel the skin off).

As for the sauces, the one in the clear glass saucer is a more strong version, in terms of taste. There are a bunch of ingredients in there that I have little knowledge about, but it's another item that Thai people consume a lot of. The other one in the little metallic pot would've been the lighter version, and was the one I dipped my vegetables with. And last but not least, the crispy fish flakes. Traditional recipes would use fish like catfish or eel since they have just the right texture and are easily sourced in Thailand, however I'm sure different places have taken up their own variation. The meat of the fish are sort of teared apart and slightly smashed to create a rough texture. Once this has been dried off and rested for a while, it is then deep fried, hence the crispy, fluffy and golden elements you could see here. And voila, there's nothing better than nice dipping sauces to help the freshness of the vegetables.

If such a simple dish like above could be so sophisticated, can you imagine what else they have for us here? Another dish that I particularly enjoyed was the chicken in cashew nut, which many would recognise as a Chinese dish. I would say that the origin of this dish is debatable in Thailand, but one thing that is clear is that we have adapted and modified a lot of Chinese dishes, since most of us do have Chinese blood, like myself with Chinese grandparents of second generation (I think). I would say that the Thai version, and certain the one here, is a lot more rich in flavours and more gentle on the spiciness. I find that the Chinese ones are often times quite spicy, but the ones here in Thailand have a lot more sauces going into play, so I would say the flavours are more complexed, and delicious. Rice & Chilli presents theirs in a little bowl of deep-fried thin wonton-like cracker. The combination of ingredients of the actual chicken with cashew nut and the crispy bowl really contributed to another delicious dish. 

Another dish that you really need to order is the lamb massamun curry, which is a red curry that has flavours from the southern part of Thailand. Geographically close to Malaysia, the massamun curry is like the Thai cousin of Malaysia's and Indonesia's rendeng. Make no mistake though, these two are very different, as with if you were to order a rendang in Malaysia versus in Indonesia. Rice & Chilli slowly cooked their lamb, so by the time the dish is presented on the table, the lamb meat is very tender and can easily be torn apart. Not to mention that the lamb was cooked on the bone, so you could imagine how good it is. The rich red curry is then seasoned and garnished with cherry tomatoes, shallots and another element that links to our Asean neighbours, crispy fried onions. When a dish looks this good, you could really see the attention to details the kitchen team put in, and when a lot effort has gone into a dish, chances are it will taste as good as it looks, and this massamun lab curry was not exception. 

Just one last mention now that we're still on the savoury note, rice was complementary. It was all you can eat, but the best part was the fact that you could choose from three different types of rice. We were offered the classic Thai jasmine rice, which is the white one that we're all used to. There was also the option of saffron infused rice, which had a beautiful and vibrant yellow colour. As for the taste in comparison to the Jasmine rice.. hmm, it was very little and close to none according to my palate. The last option was a more healthy brown rice, which is different in both taste and texture. Should you have a dilemma in selecting what rice to take, you can be rest assured that there's nothing wrong with have three different types of rice on your plate!

Lastly, let's talk dessert. There's no better way to finish off a Thai meal here than the dessert that has the word Thailand written all over it. I'm talking about the one and only mango with sticky rice! If you're outside of Thailand happen to crave a dessert, this is as Thai as it gets anywhere in the world. The only problem is this dessert is often hard to find depending where you are overseas, so now that you're in Thailand, you might as well take advantage of it. The version here comes with a bowl of ice cream (coconut I believe) as well as little wedge of strawberry to add to another colour element. The sticky rice was delicious, with sprinkles of nuts and a leaf of mint on top. The mangoes were also fresh and sweet. Overall, it was another good dish, with the only fault maybe that the quantity of mango was not so generous. 

It's super easy to get to this place. If you're not in the Sathorn area, then no problem. My personal advice to you is to take the BTS to station Sathorn, then from there, catch a taxi. The drive should be really straight forward from this point. Otherwise, you can take a taxi from where ever you are, but keep in mind two things. First thing first, the traffic will most likely be against you. This is one of the most busy roads in the city since it acts as a connecting point between the central business district with all the offices in the Sathorn area, as well as a gate between the center of the city and the outside (beyond the Chao Phraya River). The second one, is quite obvious, as taxi drivers will try to take advantage of foreigners. Your best option to avoid this is to ask for the concierge of where ever you're staying to get a taxi for you, and ask them about how much it should cost. There's nothing worse that taxi drivers exploiting foreign tourists, but thankfully, there is still hope in human race as not every single driver is like this. 

Rice & Chilli Mode Hotel Sathorn - Ratings : 

Accessibility - 7.5/10

Price - 8/10

Selection - 9/10

Staff Friendliness - 9/10

Cleanliness - 10/10

Overall - 9/10

And this brings about another happy ending to another delicious spot to have great Thai food. Rice & Chilli goes on to show another side of the many dining experiences that you could have here in the capital of Thailand. Whether you'd like to eat on the street side on colourful plastic stools, or dine in comfort overlooking the hustle and bustle of the city life, there's always something here for you. 

Mode Hotel Sathorn : 
http://www.modesathorn.com/

Rice & Chilli : 
http://www.modesathorn.com/dining-rice-and-chilli.php

Trip Advisor comments from tourists and local residents on Rice & Chilli Mode Hotel Sathorn : 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293916-d7321045-Reviews-Rice_Chilli-Bangkok.html

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